Self Made People

Hello! David J here again bringing you more of the steps on my journey toward financial independence.

While doing a search on Yahoo! recently, one of the articles on the front page was about "Self-Made" millionaires.

Now, you may have noticed that so far in this blog, I've avoided using such words as "wealth", "riches", "millionaire", and so on. I'm not into hype at all since those words don't move me the way most marketing people wish they would. So, I avoid using such words here since I prefer to take a more practical approach to motivation. I know those words do move some people to take action. They just don't do much for me.

...but, I digress.

I was thinking about the phrase, "self made".

I wonder just how true that is: "self" made?

In previous posts, we've discussed building our team, every one from attorneys, accountants, and real estate agents, to title companies, banks and other lenders, inspectors, and so on.

So, if we find success dealing with real property, can we truthfully say we are "self made"?

It is perhaps more accurate to think about the old saying, "It's not what you know, it's WHO you know", though perhaps not in the sense of important, influential and/or affluent people.

In this case, it is perhaps more accurate to consider that the greatest contributors to our success will be the team we build around ourselves.

In our business endeavors, we need certain services that we are ourselves are not qualified to perform. This includes many services or functions which require special knowledge, certification or licensing.

To facilitate our own success, we need to meet and connect with the best professional people we can find.

Sometimes, that takes an effort not unlike interviewing prospective employees. Just as an employer looks for the most experienced and knowledgeable people, so we must "employ" the best professional and clerical people we can find to help us in our business pursuits.

In an earlier post about Delegating, we spoke about the importance of having people around us to "multiply" ourselves, people who can do what needs to be done while we personally attend to more productive business pursuits. In that way, we leverage their time rather than taking our own to get things done.

The quality of the team, in addition to our own ability to provide leadership and guidance to the team will be the most powerful determinant of the success we achieve.

So, in that sense, at least, we are "self made" as a team leader. We might enlist the services of a coach or a counselor to help us build and improve our leadership abilities. Yet even in that, we are still adding members to our team.

Our success is dependent upon us to make the key decisions that keep our team productive and profitable. The members of our team are the tools we use to build our success.

We are the key that unlocks our success.

We'll talk again soon!

Take care - be well!

Much Success!